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<p>In Sub Saharan Africa, the rate of access to clean water and sanitation, though increasing, remains disproportionately low compared to the rest of world.</p>


This initiative looks to boost access to clean water in East Africa

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<p>Ericsson and UNICEF recently launched a global partnership to map internet connectivity in schools in 35 countries by the end of 2023, an initiative that aims to give young people digital skills so they can participate in the digital economy. CNBC Africa spoke with Todd Ashton, Vice President and Head of Ericsson South and East Africa for more.</p>


Ericsson

Ericsson, UNICEF partner to boost school connectivity in Africa

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<p>According to Ericsson&#8217;s latest Mobility Report for the Middle East and Africa, by the end of 2017 Sub-Saharan Africa GSM/EDGE-only subscriptions will still represent almost half of total mobile subscriptions.</p>


Ericsson releases MEA Mobility Report 2017

<p>Ericsson is betting that fast-growing demand for mobile Internet services in sub-Saharan Africa will also boost sales for the world&#8217;s biggest mobile telecoms equipment maker, the Swedish company&#8217;s regional president said.</p>
<p>&#8220;If you look at growth in mobile broadband penetration, it&#8217;s going in the right direction. It is at about 35 percent right now and that&#8217;s going to grow at 21 percent per year over the next six years,&#8221; Jean-Claude Geha told Reuters in an interview.</p>
<p>Ericsson is struggling in most other regions where its customers are further advanced in developing 4G mobile broadband networks and demand for equipment for the next generation of even faster and more widely connected 5G networks is still years away.</p>
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<p>But African mobile network operators such as MTN Group and Kenya&#8217;s Safaricom are still in the process of modernising and expanding their networks to give more and more people access to the Internet.</p>
<p>The region, home to more than 1 billion people, contributes 4 percent of Ericsson&#8217;s annual sales of $27 billion but Geha said the company was seeing percentage sales growth rates there that were &#8220;closer to double-digit than single-digit&#8221;.</p>
<p>&#8220;We are building 17 4G networks across the region and we&#8217;re still building a lot of 3G and modernising some of the 2G networks,&#8221; Geha said. &#8220;We are expecting in the next five to six years at least 80 percent of deployed infrastructure to be 3G and 4G mobile broadband.&#8221;﻿</p>
<p> </p>


Ericsson

This initiative looks to boost access to clean water in East Africa

Ericsson, UNICEF partner to boost school connectivity in Africa

Ericsson releases MEA Mobility Report 2017

Ericsson bets on fast-growing broadband demand in Africa

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Ericsson

This initiative looks to boost access to clean water in East Africa

Ericsson, UNICEF partner to boost school connectivity in Africa

Ericsson releases MEA Mobility Report 2017

Ericsson bets on fast-growing broadband demand in Africa

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